Catalytic transformation of I-adamantanol has been carried out over nano-porous materials with pore sizes ranging from 0.55 to 6 nm and acidic sites ranging from 0.07 to 4 mmol/g. Zeolites viz., H-USY, H-beta, H-mordenite, H-L and H-ZSM-5, and sulfonic-acid functionalized mesoporous silica viz., MCM-41, SBA-15 and SBA-16, were employed for the reaction. Shape selectivity in a confined micropore plays a role with the combination of medium strength acid sites toward formation of desirable 2-derivatives, which comprises a maximum amount of 2-adamantanone. (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.